djarrett Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Just wanted to get a feedback on everyones take on Birch drums? What do you think the benefit of Birch vs. Maple are? Would you buy or own Birch drums? Inquiring minds want to know. DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarf Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 I have a set of birch Yamahas, had 'em for about 14 years now. Love 'em. I'd like to try maple. -- Rob I have the mind of a criminal genius.....I keep it in the freezer next to mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaddabout Posted March 20, 2002 Share Posted March 20, 2002 Originally posted by djarrett: Just wanted to get a feedback on everyones take on Birch drums? What do you think the benefit of Birch vs. Maple are? I had some birch Yamahas. Hated 'em. Too much bite, not enough tone. I am a stubborn maple supporter. I admit I've been fooled on occasion, though. I've heard some birch kits that were tuned to sound more like maple, but my feeling is if you want a warm sound, why not just go with maple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MethodAir Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Birch, yea, lots of cut, I used birch drums in the following mp3, which was recorded with a video camera: http://www.electricmountain.com/methodair.mp3 It has it's place, and for my own sound, I'm not crazy about really warm drum sounds. MethodAir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freelance Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 I currently use both a birch kit and a maple kit and over the years I've used everything from basswood to mahogany to fiberglass to electronics. A maple kit will give you a warmer deeper tone. A birch kit will give you a brighter tone with more punch (but not as harsh as say mahogany). I feel maple is easier to tune and control in various accoustical environments (ie: different rooms) I use the maple for jazz gigs and the birch for rock/pop gigs. For recording I often use the birch kick with the maple toms. Birch and maple are both good woods - obviously other factors (heads, tuning the room, etc) are all factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djarrett Posted March 23, 2002 Author Share Posted March 23, 2002 This is good! ... keep it coming! DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof.Sound Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 I think every kit has its time and place. I'm a Maple Custom player, but I still have a tendency to really prefer the sound of the newer birch kits, like the Starclassic Performer. I think people who feel a birch kit can only sound bright and punchy really haven't given birch its fair shake. Maple kits can sound awfull bright as well. Most of these sound differences people rush to judgment I think are often a result of not having experienced all the tools of the trade. I mean just think of all the veriables out there that give a drummer today so much to choose from? The shell thickness can make these kits sound very much different. One just needs to go listen to the Genista, Performer and Recording Customs side by side to hear what I'm talking about. You can hear anything from warm and open with coated heads and thin shells to bright and muted with clear Pinstripe heads. J. Scott, Author Drum Tuning Bible Author and new site of the As of August 2004 - New Home of the Drum Tuning Bible v3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzman Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 Hi all, I have a Pearl Export Birch set of drums, and have used them for many years. I've played on a Yamaha Maple set a friend of mine has and to be honest, I think they do sound warmer and deeper if that is a good term to use to describe that type of sound. I would like to own a good Maple set for Jazz work. In the studio I can cheat a little with EQ. What about Mahogany wood? I read somewhere that the Export Select set by Pearl has a 6 ply Mahogany shell, is this good? The thicker (more plys) of the shell the deeper/mellow the sound??? The thinner the shell yields a brighter drum sound, having the same size drum?? I don't know if those are true statements. Could use some help in the explaination folks myself. Jazzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarf Posted March 24, 2002 Share Posted March 24, 2002 Jazzman, mahogany has a deeper sound than maple or birch. Go by the Pearl website and give a listen to the sound files they have for their Masters series drums. The drums come in maple, birch and mahogany. You can listen to sound samples of each type of kit. I'm thinking that I'd like to have a mahogany kick drum, good bottom end. Pearl Masters Series Drums -- Rob I have the mind of a criminal genius.....I keep it in the freezer next to mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ionic Posted April 22, 2002 Share Posted April 22, 2002 I think head choice plays a big part in this. Evans G2's on a birch kit sound warmer than G1's on a maple kit for example. Maple is one of the brightest sounding woods for guitar necks...I wonder if this translates to drums? I'll have to rehaead with G1's on the birch drums to make the comparison. " I ain't no phisikist, but I know what matters..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larraga Posted April 22, 2002 Share Posted April 22, 2002 I just moved from a late 70's maple-poplar Rogers kit to a late 90's Sonor birch and I'm getting WAY more punch. I had Remo Suede Ambassadors on the Rogers kit and am now using Fiberskyn Ambassadors to "round" the sound of the Sonors a bit. I"m really, really happy with my new kit, but then I actually was seeking a birch kit when I was shopping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumlooney Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 I have a Pearl Masters Birch kit which I like for live playing but hate for recording, I'm leaning more towards getting a Maple kit in the near future. I also think that they are a pain to tune, I find myself having to tune them between songs sometimes. Pearl is now giving you the option (with their master custom kits) of choosing how many ply's of woods you can have with your kit for example, 2 ply birch, 4 ply maple, and that's a completely different ball game. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Romero Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 I own some kits that deserve the rigth to be profesional recording drums, one Maple custom, one Recording custom and a Rock tour custom kit. All have the distintive Yamaha round sound but the variety of shell and hoop materials give some differences. The all maple is the most sensitive and tricky to tune. It has a melodic nature but lack on punch specially on bass drum. This kit is the most thick of the yamaha designs and therefore it tend to sound more dense and promote more highs, the 16x 20"is more fusion oriented than a made for playing loud. The warmth that everybody claim hear with maple at least from the Maple customs is not as warm as the birch set but the sound but the maple custom tend to sound more natural balanced in all the frecuencies spectrum. Some people tend to hate Maple customs for recording because they are not so easy to make them sound good, and even with a maple DW or a Gretsch you always have the same problem. But for my taste Maple this kit is very balanced in sounds, from the bass drum to the toms the volume it deliver is not to much dispaired. The birch has a magical sound that tend to be preequalized for the ear, it has a lot of attack, a lot of lows and no many mids frecuencies. It is to stiff for jazz to precise to deaf, and the only way to compensate is to use single ply heads but for my taste the birch tend to sound more controled and also sinthetized as you hear a electronic drum sound. Yet controlled it has a sharp definition with a lot of notes, but for snare drums I do not like the pastousy (not easy to find a solid back beat) sound you get from it. It is more dificult to obtain a good crack than from a maple snare or a metal snare. The final set I will describe is the rock tour, it has a combination of mahogany and birch and the design was for the hard rock groups that needed a profesional sound but a bigger proyection. This drums are very easy to tune and the dinamic range is bigger than in the other series. I personally like the balance between a powerful sound and a natural sound that has moderate lows good mids and not to many highs as the maple. The tone that this shell deliver is more pop oriented than the other kits, the toms speack very clear and have a tone with not to many attack and not to many melodyness that I found in a maple custom kit. It is agresive and can be played with less microphones and still have prescence. Another combination that I like is maple with mahogany that have some Slingerland drums. It is loud and have more highs and punch that the one you can get from maple. The brich alone is very stiff sound not so mellow and maybe with the thinner the shell you will find the unnatural sound you can achieve in bass richness and resonance that is not so good in birch as it is in maple, it depends on the taste you want. I think that Yamaha designs has a good compromise between a balance from lows and proyection, I have not checked the new Yamaha absolute series personally but the yamaha sampler CD shows a good sound more open and natural, and the Peter Erskine from 2000 video shows a Maple absulote kit with a beatiful jazzy sound. The DWs made of maples are brighter and louder and maybe warmer than the Maple customs but have not the same dinamic range of tunnability specially at high tensions, it can be because the rims the Maple customs has are very nice to promote the clarity of the tone of the shell, I personally love the maple traditional Gretsch sound, and some day I will own a kit that has die cast rims and more open sound. The next questions could be if anyone has tried the birch series from DW and why DW had not a preference to make birch drums and have reentered to this market by a second time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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